LHCOS Local Representative
LHCOS Local Representative
LHCOS Local Representative

LHCOS is thrilled to welcome two more Local Representatives to our team!

Rose joins us from Virginia:
Rose Marie’s love for hermit crabs began during a vacation to Hilton Head, SC when she was a child. She was mesmerized by them and couldn’t wait to take one home. She had 1 or 2 while she was young but it wasn’t until she purchased 1 at a toy store in Pensacola, FL (as an adult) that she discovered what these amazing creatures truly needed to survive. Rose Marie absorbed herself in research and made the appropriate upgrades as quickly as possible. After bouncing back and forth between several online groups, she found her home in the Land Hermit Crab Owner’s Society. It was clear that the information provided by the Crab Street Journal was the best and most up to date information available on the web. She can often be found talking about proper hermit crab care with anyone and everyone that will listen.

Rose Marie holds both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees in Flute Performance. Her performance experience includes performances at both Carnegie Hall and the prestigious Alice Tulley Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. She has toured South Korea and China as well as 7 different countries in Europe. Rose Marie has been teaching flute, voice, and piano lessons privately for over 15 years while also performing with various orchestras and ensembles in Southern California and Virginia.

Although Rose Marie is a native of Ohio, she met her sailor, Andrew, while living in Southern California. They currently reside in Suffolk, VA with their two little boys Evan and Cole, their dog Arlo, cats Coda and Bolt, and their colony of hermit crabs.

Rose Marie enjoys educating others on proper hermit crab husbandry and advocating for these special creatures whenever she is able. She is proud to assist other hermit crab lovers in their journey through her roles as a Moderator, assisting with Adoptions, and a Local Representative for the Land Hermit Crab Owners Society.

Christi joins us from Tennessee and she writes:
I live smack dab between Knoxville and Chattanooga TN. I have 2 grown kids, one grown step-son, a 4 year old granddaughter, one gorgeous English Springer Spaniel, Henley and 13 hermit crabs. I’ve always liked hermit crabs. I love seashells and animals, so…..there we go. The obsession started on our 20th anniversary vacay to Destin with my husband and son. We went to a surf shop that had them out in the open. I noticed everyone was freaked out by them so I picked them up and sweet talked them. I felt bad for them. My son talked his Dad into telling me he was fine with us getting one. I got 2. I was really in love with a big one, but knew he would be too big for this critter keeper so I left him. I couldn’t stop thinking about how no one would choose him because of his size. My son and I had to be rescued from a rip tide that day. I’m a nurse so they didn’t make me go to the hospital. Instead, I sat in bed doing self assessments and lung exercises for secondary drowning. During that time I researched everything I could find, later learning here that most of it was wrong. Upon heading home, I told my husband to stop by the Surf Shop. I took the other 2 in the critter keeper in and the cashier asked if I was bringing them back as if he expected it. I said “No, I’m here for the big one!” I named him Rip Tide. This turned into a friend asking me to take hers, a couple of adoptions from hurricanes, and a few rescues. I love foraging for them and I call it “hermit crab grocery shopping” and I make most of their food! I LOVE to educate, you might see me talking to strangers at the pet stores.